Kids – No Dog Headlocks Please
Parents, a reminder that dogs – like all animals – learn positive or negative associations based on past experience. To strengthen your child’s relationship with your dog and help to prevent dog bites, please teach your child that instead of giving headlocks and big bear hugs that can make dogs uncomfortable, to be a dog […]
Are You Really Training With Reinforcers?
The other day I was outside with a client and her dog, teaching different behaviors on their driveway. She had gone to the effort of buying, cooking and cutting up little pieces of chicken just for training. It was a lot of extra work and expense on her part but I taught her the importance […]
Teaching A Puppy Loose Leash Walking By Choice
My last post was about choices. In this video, I am teaching loose leash walking with positive reinforcement to a mini goldendoodle puppy who loves to play and thinks the world is his playground. Self control is most definitely not something that he was born understanding.
Choice And Empowerment In Dog Training
Choice and empowerment are two words I am likely to use in describing dog training (or training other animals). Empowerment is about giving our animals as much control over their behaviors as possible. That means teaching, not by force but by choice. Instead of pushing a dog into a down, I can either capture him […]
Management Is Important For Puppy Success
Yes, I will admit, this is Sam when he was a young puppy! Was he scolded? Nope. The fault was on our end for giving him access to pieces of clothing. Management is such an important – and easily forgotten or overlooked – part of helping a puppies to succeed in our homes.
DRI As A Dog Training Tool
Last week I had a first appointment to meet this adorable jack russell terrier and his family. It was a pretty exciting occasion for him and he greeted me by jumping, wagging his tail, and fast movements. He was getting so stimulated between the new visitor and a room of kids plus two parents, that […]
Dog Training Tip: Your Dog’s Perspective
This is just a reminder, if you want to teach your dog to come when called, remember to give your dog reasons to want to come.
Antecedents And Behavior Change
I talk a lot about the power of consequences when it comes to determining the future rate of a behavior which is especially important to preventing and solving dog, puppy and parrot behavior problems in positive ways. However, it is also important to understand the role of antecedents (what happens before a particular behavior) in […]
Is A Tired Dog Always The Best Solution?
I have heard it said a lot, “a tired dog (or puppy) is a good dog” and usually that phrase references physical activity. Absolutely physical activity is important to the health of your dog but at what point does it become too much of a good thing? Is the answer to ‘bouncing off the wall, […]
Understanding Pica In Dogs
This is a topic that came up over the weekend with a client I worked with awhile back. She had made numerous emergency trips to the veterinarian or emergency hospital after her dog swallowed various items. If she could get her dog to stop swallowing things whole, she told me, their lives would be so […]